sayings and comment 4

"The nature of god is a circle which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere."
                          (Empedocles ancient Greek philosopher)




COMMENT;

The  circle was used as an ancient symbol to help explain the nature of god and the cosmos.  Its configuration so impressed Michelangelo that he said, 'that an artist can claim perfection if he/she could draw, by free hand, a perfect circle.'

A diagram of a circle, in our case, symbolizes the boundless All; it also represents space.  Within this boundless All resides all things that are and could be manifested.  The sages. in an attempt to clarify the meaning of the boundless All, talked about it in  terms of, "fullness."  The possible permutations of manifestation are relatively infinite.  To illustrate, lets take the case of our physical body,  Scientists tells us that the bacteria alone number in the trillions, to say nothing of its cells, atoms, molecules, and sundry other manifested parts of our body.  Now , what if we added all manifestations in our solar system and in our entire Universe,  we have relatively infinite manifestation-fullness.    

When Empedocles says that the center is everywhere, his meaning is that, even though the symbolic circle is marked, there is no real containment because the possible permutations of manifestation are relatively infinite.  Thus the circumference is nowhere.

Now when Empedocles says that the center is everywhere, his meaning is that each unite of manifestation represents a point, a center, and since all possible permutations of manifestation are relatively infinite, all points/centers are everywhere.

our dualistic nature

Most of our life we feel and react to our dualistic nature without being aware of its innate reality.  In our instinctive reaction, we interpret its felt effect, as some elemental, cosmic effect.  For instance, if we get into a serious car crash, we might blame some vengeful god or say it was god's will or bad luck.  If we won the lottery, we might believe that it was god's will or good luck.  We are for the most part ignorant, that our life is conditioned by a dualistic process.

Within our dualistic process we recognize and relate to the quintessential position we humans are put into many times every day.  Motivated by the evolutionary impulse to progress, our desires and thoughts aggregate to interact, either to attach or repel, with others, (others being , national interests, cultural interests, institutional interests, etc.) desires and thoughts to create conditions with which we must respond.  Our choices are what they always are: doing what pleases us, what offers immediate gratification, to our senses, feelings, self-will or choosing the best consequences regardless of personal feelings or self-benefit. In our Western Culture these universal choices are amusingly portrayed with a devil sitting on our left shoulder whispering, in our ear, ego centric advise, and an angel sitting on our right shoulder whispering, in our ear, celestial advise.

Our dualistic nature has also been the theme of dramas dating back to Sophocles' tragedies and on to J.R.R. Tolken's "Lord of the Rings."  A clear and highly dramatic portrayal of our dualistic nature comes from a contemporary rendition of a movie called, "Excalibur."  This 1980 something movie, shows a scene where Sir Lancelot's, a Knight in King Arther's Count,  dualistic selves are locked in combat.  One self is King Arther's Knight, loyal, noble, courageous, the other self is in love with King Arther's wife, Queen  Guinevere.  There in Lancelot's dualistic condition his struggle begins, and there soon ends with a sword thrust by his noble, loyal self into the side of his passionate ego self.

 We can see clearly that our dualistic nature is played out upon a continuum of extremes: spiritual/physical, good/bad, etc.  There is than a perpetual tension and struggle coursing through our lives.  This perpetual tension is what ignites our self-consciousness, and our self-consciousness must than navigate through the continuum of extremes.  This movement within the continuum of extremes can be thought of as a, "duality of scale."  However, this scale does not always balance because our evolutionary, environment, in which we have our being, is heavily tilted towards the physical side of the spectrum.  This tilt towards the physical/phenomenal side is the direct cause of our ignorance of our spiritual side of the continuum.  Thus we spend most of our energy moving towards our dominate physical side, and the building and sustaining of our ego identity.

Can our ego identity be integrated with the spiritual side of the spectrum?  The quick answer is yes, but aside from placing us at the threshold, of enlightenment, our rational mind is incapable of enlightening us.  All our rational attempts at enlightenment, will invariably, lead to paradox, since it operates through our dualistic process.  Put another way, all the physical bricks and mortar the rational mind uses to build our ego personality must be removed in order for us to be liberated.  There is a Sanskrit word , "samsara" which describes the mortar that binds the ego bricks together.  Samsara means , conditional tendencies, usually negative, and self-willed, to particular ways of thinking and acting.  ..."all beings fall into error by reason of the delusion of the opposites which spring from liking and disliking,"... says Krishna in the "Bhagavad-Gita." 

The path towards spiritual enlightenment is very difficult.  It is said, 'of all those who aspire to enlightenment only one takes the first step, and of all those that have taken the first step, only one succeeds.'

Our spiritual nature impels us to take the first step. So why not comply?  Today is a good day to take that first step.     . 

sayings and comment 3

"On the Buddha's birthday, as he sprang from his mother's side, I hit him once and killed him, and feed him to a hungry dog.  The whole world was at peace."  (Yun-Men, Chinese Zen Master)




COMMENT:

This blatant, cold, cruel statement startles us.  It is beyond our imagination that such a cruel, action and such a confession in a unremorseful tone could ever be conceived within the mind of a human being.  To stoke the outrage more, lets put the statement closer to home, "If you see the Christ along the side of the road, kill the Christ and bring peace to the world"

The above saying is typical of Zen teaching, making straight forward, outrageous statements, leading the student to see through the outrageous to a more clear spiritual meaning.  In line with this indirect method of teaching, is what is called a "koan."  It is a mind puzzle, usually nonsensical, but made to appear rational, i.e. "You know the sound of two hands clapping.  What is the sound of one hand clapping?"  (I am kind of sorry for giving you the koan, because I expect some of you may be up all night trying to figure it out.)

Gautama the Buddha is recorded as saying, "Be lamps unto yourself."  This simple statement opens the door to understanding Yun-Men's saying.  The Buddha did not mean that, physical you is the intellectual light that can enlighten and liberate you.  His meaning was based upon his enlightenment.  He knew that there is a non-modifying consciousness, that remains unaffected and pure throughout our varying interactions with the physical, sensual, mental, and spiritual planes of our being.

This non-modifying consciousness can not be defined, for Its essence lies beyond duality, and abides within the realm of infinity.  We humans, consciously stuck in duality, can only reason by measuring and judging one thing or condition against another thing or condition.  However, our essential core of being is pure consciousness.  We are a Spark of the Infinite; we are It and It is us.

It is this Spark of Infinity that the Buddha meant when he said, "Be lamps unto yourself."  This Spark is where all truth and wisdom resides.  If we are aware and connected with It, we need no doctrines, teachings, rituals, ceremonies.  It is the Light of lights.

Yun-Men is referring to the same Spark of Infinity.  His meaning is, do not become attached to the spiritual master who speaks universal or non-modifying truths; don't let the master become the object of worship, for such attachment only keeps us in the consciousness of duality.

Become your infinite Self by directing your consciousness towards devotion to the universal truths the masters represent.

sayings and comment 2

"Words are the fog one has to see through."  (Zen Buddhist)



COMMENT;

Words are not mere puffs of wind shaped by the tongue, but are alive.  Although we have a developed lexicon to tract their meaning, their essential force, power, and life comes from the desire and intent of the human being who speaks them.  When someone intends to mislead, he takes words out of context and forms them in a manner that misleads the original intended content, implanting his own intention.  We see this kind of derailing of original intention on to misleading meaning happening countless times daily on T.V. ads.  The user of transplanting content currently comes under the heading of "rhetoric," (artificial eloquence; showiness and elaboration in language), but its use , more accurately, should come under. "propaganda," ( ideas, doctrines or allegations used disparagingly to connote deception or distortion. 

I wrote a poem called, "Wasted Words," that will, I believe, help dissolve "the fog of words."

Hold your tongue and listen a minute,
  to the great avalanche of words entering your ears.
Day and night, words pumped out through mouths
   in rapid-fire succession.
Where once they were used sparingly and with care,
   now derelict of truth they spew out faster then a
   machine gun with little care and little heart.
Words wasted, as if there were an eternal supply;
    mere puffs of wind, traveling the air and dying off
    as smoke.
But where do they go?
Do they reverberate through the cannons of space like
   some eternal echo?
Do they completely dissolve into emptiness?
Do they gather at some cosmic point and mark their
    selves on some universal verbal ledge?
Every word and its intent imprints upon the cosmic waters.
    There, every cures, every boast, every syllable, every atom
    of sound lives and follows its path to effect.  There is no
    escape, not under the deepest ocean, not atop the highest
    mountain.  It is your breathe that breathes them out and they
    will seek their effect directed by your will.
Thunder is the voice of lighting and responds only to the bolt-
     never more, never less.
What would the world be like if all humans spoke so succinctly?
    

sayings with comment

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark, the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light." (Plato)


COMMENT:

A child not yet invested with his full compliment of rational capacities can be easily frighten, especially in the dark.  In the dark, where our out stretched hand cannot be seen, our imagination is inspired with limitless possibilities.  As I remember, my first frightful experience was in a dark movie theater, watching "the Wizard of Oz," when the "Wicked Witch of the West" suddenly pop on the screen, with her green face, large crooked nose, and her menacing laugh.  I bet most adults can relate.

The idea of human beings tragically being afraid of the light, can be explained by a consideration of their spiritual side.  The light side represents a chosen path leading to liberation and unification with the Source.  The dark side, is where 90% of the time we live and have our ego identity, as Darth Vader said to Luke, there is great, ..."power in the dark side."  The reason we have blinders on in relationship to the light side is because we know , deep in our soul, that in order to follow the light path we must renounce our dark identity; its pleasures and its pain.  We in truth, are not ready to renounce our familiar dark side because of our ignorance and fear of the light side.

the karma of a pure act

This story of the effect of karma related to a pure act, (an act done without attachment or any hidden agenda), that was done by me.  As part of a background to this story, I want to explain an affinity I have with American Indians.  It started when I was about seven years old.  I was at a movie theater with my father watching a movie about Jim Thorpe, a famous American Indian athlete, in track and field, football, and baseball; the movie starred Burt Lancaster, as Jim Thorpe.  In the opening scene a young Jim Thorpe, about seven, was running, full tilt across a wide field, jumping over creeks and hurdling log fences.  Seeing that young boy running so joyfully and in complete freedom immediately attached me to the boy, his enjoyment and freedom, and his Indianess.  This attachment has had an enduring affect with me.  I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, where there were few open fields to run through, creeks to jump, or log fences to hurdle.  However, I knew joy and freedom, when my friend, Tim Brennon and I raced every block on our way to school.  We had equal speed, and the winner of the race would aways be the one who would start the race with the words, "ready-set-go."  As for jumping and hurdling , the closest I came was climbing to the roof of a garage and jumping off and a one hand flip over a neighbor's fence, or a two hand flip over a mail box.  When watching Cowboy or Cavalry and Indians movies, I always empathised with the Indians: their horse-men-ship, their nobility, and their fearlessness; even though my greatest hero was a cowboy named, Roy Rogers.

As I got older my affinity grew stronger by reading books like, "Black Elk Speaks," "The Memoirs of Chief Red Fox," "The Education of Little Tree," "The Man Who Killed the Deer," and many others.  My empathy also gained strength when I moved to Minnesota in 1970, and became interested in the history, culture, and spiritual practices of the local Indian tribes: the Dakota, Lakoda, Mdewakanton, Ogalala.  In the late 70's my Indian affinity inspired me to write a poem.  The title was
"Lament."

"Great Indian, the wind whistles long,
    lonely, sadly, searching for his lost brother.
 'O my brother, come ride my currents
    as the eagle.
 'O my brother, listen to my lonely
    song forlorn as the wolf.
 'O my brother, sour with me, sense the
    earth, touch the mountains, remember
    my ways as your ancestors once knew.'
 O Great Indian, fly with your brother
    the wind once again, and share your
    wisdom with me."

It was my step-son Albert who brought me into the Mdewakanton community in Shakopee, Mn.
Albert did work for some of the Indians families on the reservation, and over a period of years became a trusted worker.  I was having chronic pain in my right hip.  I asked Albert if he would ask his Indian friends if they knew anyone who could perform a healing ceremony.  My alternative to a healing ceremony was having total hip replacement surgery, so I was highly motivated to participate in the less invasive healing ceremony.  One of Albert's friends recommended a pastor of an Indian/Christian church, on the reservation named Jerry.  Albert gave me Jerry's phone number.  I phoned Jerry, and set up an appointment.

Jerry did not live on the reservation, but in a home in Shakopee.  On my way to his home I happened to see a bald eagle flying west in the same direction I was traveling.  This I took as a favorable and reinforcing sign.  At the door, Jerry and is wife meet me and welcomed me in.  Jerry showed me to a lounge chair, and before I sat down, he put a colorful blanket with Indian symbols around my shoulders.  He asked me what is was that needed healing.  I told him it was my right hip.  He walked around me saying prayers in an Indian language.  I believe he was invoking the powers of the North, East, South, and West, plus the Great Spirit in my healing behalf.  Then he began to fire up a bundle of sage, and smoked me from head to toe, and side to side, all the while saying prayers.  The healing ceremony had now been completed, the blanket was removed, and I sat down in the chair.  We then spend time talking about our individual lives in relation to our spiritual path.

I had four additional healing sessions with Jerry.  I must say I was feeling better, and my pain was more bearable.  On my last session, I had brought a gift for Jerry.  It was a print that was given to me by my daughter for my birthday.  The print was mounted on a wood board, that was trimmed with a dull, red paint.  The print was a creation by a Native American named, Nakoma, and was called, "The Circle is My Path."  It was written in verse, and was a blend of poetry and prose, with drawings of Native Americans and animals native to North America.  It is a kind of autobiography and spiritual evolution of Nakoma.  He is a taste, one verse of its poetry and prose:

"We are all on the rim of the world and at its center at the same time.
  We are attached to the ripples that emanate from its center-life is so. 
  We ride the waves-the wind turns us.
  We flow as the prairie flows, and we are bound to the sacred land-
    walking our path in a sacred manner."

I loved that print.  It had brought me great joy, insight, and understanding.  Truthfully, I struggled intensely with myself to give it up, but in the end I was able to release all attachments to it, and gave it to Jerry with a pure heart of gratitude.

Two years after my last healing session with Jerry, I attended, along with my wife and step-son Albert, a Pow Wow, on the Mystic Lake complex.  It was a North American gathering of Indian dancers.  The dancers were there to compete for prizes.  There were also tents where food was sold, and various arts and crafts were displayed and for sale.  As we were looking at the various arts and crafts displayed in the tents, I found a tent with not only arts and crafts, but also historical artifacts, and portraits of old chiefs.  One of my deep affinities was with an Ogalala, Indian named Crazy Horse.  I have a strong desire to draw the likeness of Crazy Horse.  I thought this might be an excellent place to ask about a portrait of Crazy Horse. 

My eyes set on a short, middle aged man, black hair in a pony tail, and a thin black mustache, who I supposed was the owner.  I moved to where the man was standing and asked if he had a portrait of Crazy Horse.  He said , "Yes," and I followed him to the corner of the tent where he pointed to a sketch on a wall.  "Is that Crazy Horse," I asked dubiously.  He answered, "Yes., I drew it."  I asked, "What did you use as a model?"  He replied, "My imagination."

I explained to the owner that I got to know something of Crazy Horse's history by reading, "Black Elk Speaks" and "The Memoirs of Chief Red Fox."  The owner walked me back to the center of the tent and picked up a book he was currently reading and handed it me.  It was about Custer's last stand at the Little Big Horn River.  I do not recall the title.  As I handed the book back to the owner I caught sight of the print, "The Circle is My Path."  I had told the owner that I had had this print, and how much I enjoyed it.  He told me that when he created it there was confusion about the direction the verses should be read; he said "That the verses should be read left to right, and not down and up."  Surprise and excited, I said, "Your Nakoma!."  He said, "Yes."  I immediately pushed out my right hand and shook his hand vigorously.  I really wanted to give him a huge.  I told Nakoma the story of my healing sessions with Jerry, and how I gave Jerry my beloved print of, "the Circle is My Path."  Unknown to me at the time, Albert, after hearing my story of giving my copy of the print to Jerry, had purchased a copy of the print, and Katie, Nakoma's wife handed me the print. 

There in that magical moment, all seeming incidental points were magnetically made to connect, and there I stood with the return of my print, and Nakoma, the creator of the print.  This was the effect of the eternal law of Karma, initiated by my pure act of gratitude.

If there is any reader that would be interested in purcharsing a copy of "The Circle is My Path" you may contact Nakoma at, nakomaarts@yahoo.com. 
 




     

      
   
      

the origination of evil and the devil-part two

How did good and evil become innate characteristics of the human composition? The moment

"mankind" was lit by the fire of self consciousness and saw its nakedness, the consciousness of duality was born along with all opposites, thus the idea of good and evil. The ignition of self consciousness is allegorically represented in Genesis of the Old Testament, by the story of Adam and Eve's actions in the Garden of Eden. Lord God allowed Adam and Eve to live blissfully in the Garden of Eden, but imposed one condition , not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (much to reason about in this story) Eve is tempted and enticed by the serpent to eat of the forbidden fruit. She succumed and ate the fruit and then in turn tempts Adam, who succumbed and also eats the fruit. Prior to the ignition of self consciousness, "mankind" existed in a mindless state of consciousness somewhat akin to the current state of instinct exhibited in the animal kingdom. This state of consciousness is described as "bliss" in this biblical story. "Mankind," at this stage of evolution0n was amoral, could no more do immoral acts then could deliberately and self consciousness do moral acts. Adam and Eve's allegorical eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolized "mankind's" psycho-spiritual evolutionary transition of consciousness, from the former psycho-spiritual, blissful, amoral state of consciousness, to the struggles and confusion of self-consciousness- the knowing and choosing between the opposites, good and evil.

***The above understanding puts the origination of good and evil on a more comprehensible level, but the philosophical difficulty delineating where Infinite God disappears to make room for evil still remains. This is a very difficult doctrine to comprehend. Its greatest difficulty however, is not so much in its comprehension, but in clearing the mind from the commonly held anthropomorphic ideas of God and the devil. The idea of a Causeless Cause, an Infinite God, is an abstraction of the very highest order, and regardless of skills in metaphysics and philosophy, human reason would have to be stretched to its ultimate limits in order to attain a shadow of comprehension. Can there be any wonder why attempts at such a great feat of comprehension would be loaded with projections of human personality and attributes? Notwithstanding such difficulties an explanation is forthcoming by using teachings from some of the ancient sages and seers of our world.

***A fundamental point to keep in mind through out this explanation is that Infinite God cannot create because of its infiniteness. Creation , in all of its forms, is a manifestation of the finite.

For an Infinite God to create, It must some how transform Its infiniteness into the finite, which is a logical absurdity. The Uncaused Cause does not issue forth manifestation, but periodically exhibits different aspects of Itself. The same idea expressed another way is, the Unknowable, as It could not create, conceived, breathed out, issued forth a thought that emanated manifesting Powers. The adjectives used here to describe the deific process of the manifestation of the point of first manifestation are inadequate. "Breathed in or out" is the expression used by ancient Hindu texts, and probably come the closest to an acceptable description of this great process. Keep in mind however, that the moment one begins an explanation of the Unknowable- a logical impossibility, it immediately brakes down, no matter how well words or symbols are used. These emanating Powers that are breathed out from Infinite God, become the matrix for the building of our planetary system, and it is these emanated Powers that the human intellect deals, not with the Infinite God. After breathing out the emanated Powers, infinite God remains , irrevocably fixed in Its sphere of divinity, letting the emanating Powers architect and build the worlds.

The thought thread, breathed out from Infinite God remains within the emanating Powers as the bases, foundation, unity of all manifested multiplications and permutations that issued forth. A useful analogy for this process can be drawn from our Sun and its emanating rays. The Sun sitting irrevocably in its orbit, emanates its life giving essence, as rays, which in turn build, grow, and maintain the many manifested forms within our solar system. Another useful aid in gaining insight into the process is studying the Pythagorean Tetraktys.

-------------------- ---0 apex

---------------------- 0 0

-------------------- 0 0 0

------------------ 0 0 0 0 total 10

-----------------Tetraktys

***The Tetraktys are a paradigm representing the process of manifestation from its apex, representing the point of first manifestation- the point at which Infinite God's thought takes form- and the vertical hierarchy of relation between Unity (Infinite God's thought) and emerging multiplicity. The same idea expressed in another way is, the Tetraktys are an image of unity (Infinite God's thought) starting at the One, proceeding through four levels of manifestation, and returning to unity, the sum, Ten. Wherein, One represents the point, Two represents the line, Three represents the surface, and Four represents the first three-dimensional form.

***Again a reminder, the most important point to be taken out of this very difficult discussion is to keep separate Infinite God from "hands on" creation of our Solar System, and more particularly Earth. The architects and builders of our Solar System are the thoughts forms or emanating Powers issued from Infinite God. These Powers are set in a hierarchy, starting from the highest, the first manifestation or the One, the most ethereal, through a multitude of substantive gradations to the lowest, the most material. It is they, directed by Infinite God's thoughts forms, who architect, build, sustain,and evolve our solar system. It is in this process of manifestation-the crystallization of spirit, that produces the force of opposition, and it is this force of opposition that provides a matrix, a sheath, a soul around which spirit can be manifest, ... "and the word was made flesh..." The consequence of this cosmic, adversarial tension is self-awareness. Infinite God's pure essence remains within Its sphere of divinity, Its ray is clothed, or skinned or veiled by increasing gradations of matter, until the veil is lifted high enough for the fire of self-consciousness to be ignited-following the Great Cycle of Evolution. It is the self-awareness of our own life, our own ego life, that produces the idea of separateness. It is that idea of separateness which is the initiator of evil.

***The concept of the devil as a substantive being and adversary of their God is so basic to the doctrines of Christianity, that any inquiry into his existence seems to most Christians, heretical, even blasphemous. The devil is wrapped so thick and tight with fear that most Christians are troubled by the mere thought of him. Most Christians adopt an attitude of fearful avoidance when it comes to any conceptual contact with the devil, leaving such to the demon "experts" the preachers, evangelists, and priests. Not only are most Christians fearful of any association with the devil, but also terrified by the wrath incurred by their God and by their Church for such association, (remember the history of the religious inquisitions). The only condition under which the devil can be related to without fear and terror is to use him to "scape goat" some of the responsibility of sinful conduct. "The devil made me do it. I take some responsibility for my conduct, but the devil initiated my will to act badly, thus releasing me from full responsibility."

***Keeping in mind the great fear, the divine and ecclesiastical wrath, and the ironic, moral relief surrounding the concept of the devil, it isn't difficult to understand the great volatility inherent in any examination. I am certain that many Christians reading this essay will believe me to be a dupe of the devil or worse, that I am a voluntary companion. I can assure the reader, I am no dupe or companion of the devil, since I have no belief in such an being.

***Yet, regardless of the great fear, horror, and volatility present in the traditional doctrine of the devil there is a great need for close examination of this concept. For as it presently stands, it represents one of the greatest obstacles on the pathway towards spiritual growth and development.